Alano Club deserves community support: Our View

The front entrance is shown of the Alano Club in downtown Wausau. The club is struggling to maintain a shoestring budget.

There's a pretty big, obvious PR problem with an organization for which anonymity is one of the key values. Most of the life-changing work that happens inside the walls of Wausau's Alano Club is not meant for public consumption and never will be.

But in a culture where alcohol abuse is rampant and drug abuse appears to be rising, the work of the 12-step programs and alcohol and drug addiction meetings that happen there absolutely is saving lives.

The Alano Club ran a profit last year - of about $39. That is, shall we say, not a comfortable fiscal position. It has the luxury of having few expenses: The club owns its building at 711 McClellan St., is exempt as a nonprofit from property taxes and is staffed almost entirely by volunteers. Still, its budget is such that anything from a storm to a plumbing problem could send the Alano tumbling into the red.

For those who have found a community there, the Alano Club, which hosts Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon and Narcotics Anonymous meetings but also offers social gatherings and a lounge space for members and visitors, is a place that inspires intense loyalty and emotional connection.

"There is no judgment here," club president Darren Letner told Daily Herald Media. "There is only understanding and hope, and life after sobriety."

In fact, many members, including Letner, credit their lives with what they found there.

But it's also a place that, if it is going to serve its purpose, absolutely must have a very low barrier to entry. It cannot be expensive to join - meetings are free, membership in the club (which is not required to attend meetings) costs $6 a month - or it would end up excluding some of the people who need its services the most.

It is a nonprofit, but it is classified as a social club rather than a charity, which has made seeking grants complicated. And because many, though not all, of its members prefer to remain anonymous, it is difficult to do the types of fundraisers that some other local nonprofits turn to.

That leaves us, the community. If you have been touched by the work done at the Alano Club, consider making a tax-deductible donation to the club. Mail checks to Alano Club of Wausau, PO Box 1092, Wausau, WI 54402-1092. You also can contribute to the club's building improvement fund at any location of CoVantage Credit Union, with checks made out to the Alano Club Improvement Fund.

It is the opposite of a flashy organization. But it an incredibly important one.

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Alano Club deserves community support: Our View

There's a pretty big, obvious PR problem with an organization for which anonymity is one of the key values. Most of the life-changing work that happens inside the walls of Wausau's Alano Club is not

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